Friday, 29 October 2010

Potato and Kale Enchiladas

As I mentioned in my last post, fellow blogger Lisa came to dinner last week. I don’t have dinner guests as often as I used to but I invited her on a day I wasn’t working and got most of the preparation done while Sylvia had a long sleep.

Lisa helped herself to the pea pate while Sylvia ate her vegies, chickpeas and tofu. I think Sylvia felt quite sorry for Lisa with all that green gunk because she began to slip her the odd chickpea or tomato. But we had more to come.

I had decided to make the PPK’s Potato and Kale Enchiladas.It might give you some insight into the cooking if I tell you that my first task was to ring my mum and check the kale in the backyard was ready to pick. Using kale from a pot meant that I didn’t have as much as the recipe called for. I used the remainder of a bag of spinach to bump up the greens and there was plenty of colour. My tortillas must have been much larger than the PPK's – they used 12-14 and I used 6.

[As an aside, I got this recipe off the web last week. My timing was excellent because the link is not working this week. I think the PPK might have updated their site but can’t be sure. I gather that the recipe can be found in Vegenomicon)

I showed a reckless lack of planning in assembling the enchiladas. I chatted to Lisa and kept an eye on Sylvia rather than reading the recipe. It was only when I looked at the recipe afterwards when making blog notes that I found I was meant to heat tortillas and dip them in the tomato sauce before rolling them around the filling. I wouldn’t have had the concentration for such messy work. Besides, they worked fine my way.

The enchiladas were spicy, smoky and tasty with lots of sauce on top but not too heavy. I thought the potato and kale filling had a bit much lime juice and salt so I would go easier with these next time, though the flavours weren’t overwhelming in the final dish. There was also dessert but I’ll tell you about the banana choc chip cookies another time.

We had a lovely evening with Lisa. Anyone who has read her eclectic blog knows she is an interesting person. She recently spent time in Edinburgh where E hails from and gave lots of attention to our pussy cat, Zinc. Just the sort of blogger I am happy to have living just around the corner.

6 wholegrain tortillasTo make enchilada sauce: Fry onion in olive oil until it is quite soft.(This takes quite a while 10-30 minutes – you can start on potato and kale filling while it cooks or play with a small child.)Add remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.Remove from heat and set aside.

To make potato and kale filling:peel and dice potatoes and cook in boiling water for 15-20 minutes until soft.Drain and set aside.Heat oil in a large saucepan.Fry garlic gently in oil, stirring constantly until garlic is lightly browned (this only takes about a minute).Add kale and stir over medium low heat about 2 minutes, then add spinach and cumin seeds for another 2 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and stir for another 3-4 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.While the mixture is cooking, use the back of a wooden spoon to coarsely crush the potatoes.Go easy on the lime juice and salt, check for taste and add more as required.To assemble:Lightly grease a largish casserole dish and preheat oven to 200 C.Lay a tortilla on a flat surface and spoon about 2 dessertspoons of the potato and kale filling into the middle and shape into a long strip.Roll up tortilla around the filling and place seam down in the casserole dish.Repeat with remaining tortillas.Pour enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas and bake for 40 minutes uncovered.Allow to cool slightly before serving.

9 comments:

I used this recipe once for a kale-potato lasagna and was very happy with the results. . .don't remember too much lime, though. The enchiladas look great! And I bet that bigger was better--you can never go wrong with more filling!

BTW, I've always meant to ask: you use nutritional yeast enough for me to wonder if you can actually taste it. I realize that you are Australian and Vegemite is common, but I have a hard time with yeast. Is it me?

Thanks Ricki - I remember your lasagna and think I would love to try it - I don't think I had more filling - in fact I worried I had a bit less of the greens but they must have used smaller tortillas

Thanks Hannah - I know what you mean about the price of kale - I was even luckier than you think - mum brought a pot of kale and left it in the garden - we don't get heaps from it but this is the second year we have harvested it!

Thanks Joanne for the PPK update - must look through the new site more - though shame this recipe has gone

Thanks Nic - me too - love finding new enchilada fillings and was pleased I remembered this one

Thanks Susan - actually I added nutritional yeast which might have made the flavours a bit sharper which might explain my issues with the lime - but to answer your question - I do taste the yeast sometimes and I like the taste - I ate so much bread in my childhood and watched my mum bake it that I find that yeast smell quite comforting - or maybe it is a result of growing up with vegemite!

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Recipes and reflections in which our vegetarian heroine dreams of being tall and graceful as a giraffe; being a goddess in the kitchen; and being gladdened by green gadgets, green food and green politics because green is the colour of hope. See About Me for more info.